Grandma Goes to Ireland

Today I took care of one final bit on Grandmother's Scrap Bag before tucking it onto the UFO shelf in order to get ready to start my October NewFO...yeah, late as usual.  The binding is a pieced binding from the same 23 fat quarters that went into the quilt top, so I sewed those together, trimmed the little triangles after sewing an extra seam to get little bonus triangle-squares from them, pressed the binding seams open, and rolled it up and stuffed it into the box.  I use gift boxes like you'd use for shirts or robes at Christmas or birthdays to store my UFOs in, and place a sticky note at the end with the i.d. # and name.  Yep, there are some areas of my life that are neat, tidy and under control.  That's not to be said about a whole lot of other areas, especially now.  But that's all for another day, or not.

On another new exciting note, Bonnie Hunter released her fabric requirements for this year's mystery quilt.  She'll be releasing the first installment on 11/29...over a month away!  Chomping at the bit here, and hoping I can round up enough of the fabrics in the color-way she's chosen - won't be able to buy any new ones!  Since it starts so late in November, I may use that as my December NewFO even though I'm beginning to gather the fabrics now.  If you're at all curious, love scrappy quilts and want to make a dent in your scrap bins, and you're not already one of Bonnie's followers who already are in the know, go check out the details at Quiltville.  Last year, I took part in her Easy Street Mystery Quilt and enjoyed it.  It was my first mystery follow-along with her and I used different colors as I didn't have her selections in my stash.  It turned out great...though it's still one of those UFOs!  Here's one of my progress shots from back then.

Design Wall Monday

I hope no one's getting tired of Grandma's Scrap Bag yet.  I knew I would like it, but I think I like how it looks even better as I progress through each step towards completion.

I'm at the same point I was yesterday after spending only 6/10ths of an hour working on it.  I do have a new picture though of just part of the rows that are done.  I have nine rows complete.  They are pinned to the design wall identifying each row with an orange sticky note.  Orange is not my favorite color.  Maybe that's why Autumn is not my favorite season.  As for seasons, Autumn falls at 3 of 4 with Summer being the least favorite.  Perhaps if I lived elsewhere, my favorites could change, but here, Spring is my favorite with Winter in solid second place. Don't you love rabbit trails? Back to the quilt, I'm really looking forward to getting the top done, even if it then remains on the UFO shelf.  I'm thinking 2014 will be a year to process the UFO's, in the meantime, I'm creating UFOs and loving it.

And though there is a fair amount of orange in this quilt, it blends in nicely with all the other colors so I don't mind it too much.  I really like the crispness of how this quilt looks with its bright white background and all the cheery repros. 

I think I'll spend some more time on it yet this afternoon, or this evening.  Dinner will be easy, I'm just making hotdogs.  I usually saute some onion as neither Marty or I like the raw onion much these days.  And I have a can of Bush's barbecue beans so will have them too.  I resisted grabbing a bag of chips while at the store this morning...that's a good thing...I have little control when there's an open bag in the house.

Cumberland Mountain went home to its intended recipient, my friend Lois, yesterday.  She was very pleased and enjoyed pointing out the fabrics that she had at one time made clothing and other items from.  As I may have said before, she was decluttering a number of years ago....like seven!....and brought me all her fabric remnants/scraps of which some was still decent yardage pieces.  I tested for cotton and most were, and those are the ones I used in the quilt adding only a handful from my own stash for some color pop & variety and then purchasing the fabric for the borders, binding and backing.  She was very happy, and we had a nice couple of hours to just sit back and chat awhile.  She's a faithful friend.

I'm just one more busy quilter, adding my show-and-tell efforts to Judy's link-ups at Patchwork Times.  Thanks for dropping in.

Stash Report Sunday Week 41, 2013

My trend of no fabric movement in or out continues, and I'm trying to remain accountable by posting.  Linking to Patchwork Times.

Used This Week: 0 yards 
Used Year to Date: 10.25 yards  
Added This Week: 0 yards  
Added Year to Date: 46.375 yards  
Net Used for 2013: -36.125 yards

I have continued working on Grandma's Scrap Bag this week and currently have the blocks from 9 of 15 rows sewn together into rows and they are pinned to the design wall.  I did a couple of the rows this morning after church but for some reason, don't feel like sewing today, maybe I will again later.  

We're almost at mid-month already.  Sure would love for this time-thing to slow down some.  I need to decide on a new project for the November NewFO at Cat Patches.  Report time will be here before I know it.  I really need to get a quilt or two to the point of hand-sewing the binding...it would help me keep my legs warm now that it's more chilly in the house because of much lower night time temps.  I'd much rather have these temps than the summer ones!
 

Yesterday I celebrated, along with hundreds of others, the home-going of my friend Panda's husband.  The memorial was wonderfully done telling of the man her husband was and giving glory to the Lord.  When he left his earthly body, he was on the golf course during free time while on their fellowship group's annual retreat.  His departure was quick.  Something perhaps we should all take notice of, in that our lives on this earth are but a mere breath compared to eternity, and we may not have a final breath in which to ask the Lord to be the Lord of our lives, thankfully he was a believer, and also, as he was so relatively young (just 67) that we never know our day or hour, and should strive all the more to hold our relationships with others as precious in all ways.

 

Oh For The Love of Scrappiness!

There's one thing I don't like about scrappy quilts! Yes, there really is.  Oh, alright, the problem is not with the scrappy quilts.  It's with my obsessive compulsiveness to have order.  I can't put that one there, it's right next to the same color, no, and that one's next to the same fabric, and no, there are too many of this color in this quarter, or this row, or....you get the picture.  Do you struggle with that in scrappy quilts too?  That need to compulsively control what goes where?  And isn't part of the fun of scrappy to just have whatever land wherever?

Well, I have Grandma's Scrap Bag (GSB) now pinned to the design wall.  Did I say pinned, yes I did.  That's what I did last night....I found a way to nail the styro-foam-like base of my design wall to the wall without it pulling off the nails.  

When Marty redid this room, he replaced drywall.  When replacing drywall, there's this gridded tacky 'tape' that covers the seams.  The roll of this stuff was still in the hallway on a cruddy shelf unit that was used for all the tools and odds and ends he used.  The grids are close enough that a nail with a head on it won't pull through, and so I took that stuff, tacky enough to stay put but not so tacky to not be able to pull it off and reposition - a bit like a sticky note - and placed it on both sides of the styro-insulation sheet, then nailed it to the wall.  It works perfectly! Which makes me very happy :) You can see parts of the grid tape, it's that yellow piece on either side about half way down.  My wall is from four pieces of styro-insulation, actually two, but to get them home, we had to cut them in half to put them in the Highlander or they'd have been blowing around town for days had we attempted to tie them to the roof rack.

Here's a shot of the pieces as currently pinned.  And you know what?  I don't think I'll move anything around.  I'll just take them off row by row from top to bottom (as it's turned sideways on the wall), and number the rows.  The small image lets my eyes see things better and it doesn't seem that there's any real imbalance anywhere.  Even on the wall up close, it seems pretty good.

And do you remember wayyy back when, in April, when I finished Cumberland Mountain, the quilt for my friend Lois.  And the only quilt I've finished all year.  Well, just today (embarrassingly), I finally got the label on it and laundered it so that it can really be given to her as soon as I can arrange a time to meet with her.  It's folded lengthwise to fit over a pants hanger just to make sure it's completely dry before folding up and putting into a presentation box.  It feels really good to finally get that part done; it's been a weight on my shoulders since I finished the quilt.

Tomorrow, 11:00 PDT is the memorial service for my friend Panda's husband.  There'll be a reception afterward, and I'm sure it'll be a well-attended service.  Panda herself was very involved in our women's ministries for many years and her husband was a CPA so I'm sure had many friends and clients who wish to pay their last respects.  They were also active in their fellowship group.  We celebrate his home-going, knowing he is there rejoicing and worshiping the Lord, yet those who remain and knew him well, loved him well, are feeling the pain of their own loss of this man.  I had only met him casually a couple of times, so am not directly feeling the loss of him, but I am feeling the pain of knowing my friend is now without her spouse and best friend, one whom she had every reason to believe would be around much longer, yet at the same time knowing that God has numbered, counted our days for each of us before we were ever knit together in the womb (ref. Psalm 139). 

Moving Right Along

Awoke this morning to an expected 'storm'.  Out here we call them storms, but I laugh because it amounts to just being overcast with scattered showers.  It's enough to get the pavement wet.  Which will be just enough to catch many foolish drivers off-guard...with long periods between any moisture at all our roads get quite slippery with just a touch of moisture so drivers tend to either over compensate and drive like they're on ice, or utterly disregard the conditions and spin out, either way, driving can be frustrating, but I've determined I will not let it bother me today.  I'm going to enjoy this wee bit of rain, and the wonderful cooler temperatures along with it.  This is the view through my Sanctuary window this morning:

zoomed in to show the raindrops on the window

Yesterday again, I was able to continue working on Grandma's Scrap Bag.  And then this happened...guess it's time to change spools......

becomes a cat toy, briefly and then they lose interest

After putting on a new spool and threading the machine, I sewed the last strip onto each of four strips sets and didn't notice until I went to press them that this happened...ugh, why?  I re-threaded the machine, pulled the bobbin out and checked it and put it back in, and tried again after of course, removing all the bad seams.  All is well now :)

boo! hiss!

"Why yes Mom, I DID take your nice warm seat when you got up to press those strip sets!"  Thank you Flame for keeping my seat warm for me, now SCOOT!!

And the end result of the strips sets after pressing and sub-cutting into 3.5" (x 8") sets.

And showing on the almost-design-wall how the strip sets will fit in among the blocks with a "post" block set in as well.

Oh dear, is the sun trying to peak through all ready?  Excuse me while I adjust the blinds so that I can see the computer screen, brb....ok, that's better.  Wow, the reflection of the sun off the clouds is really bright, but there's still plenty of cloud cover, and some of it looks pretty black, so hopefully more rain will come.

Last night we celebrated Nick's 15th birthday.  We went to Red Lobster...birthday's are special occasions and there isn't another now until my own at the end of July, so we didn't worry too much about 'splurging' by eating out in a nice restaurant.  We have held off on his gift though as it seems everything on his list is very spendy...our only child has been the recipient to perhaps a higher standard than most, of our past blessed financial position.  That must change until Marty gets re-employed, and may change indefinitely.

Marty's really bummed of late again, to the point of nearly giving up on looking for a job, after just two months of looking!  That's a side of his personality that causes me great concern at times.  Not that he's a danger to himself, but just that he gives up and doesn't put in the effort.  We've not experienced this in this same arena before, but have in other areas, and it is very hard on me, because I then have to be the strong one and not add further to his dejection, which then puts that much more weight on my own shoulders.  He left after our dinner last night to go to the mountains with one of his friends for a little photography, so hopefully that'll help his mood, and his friend can be of encouragement to him.

Today I head to my quilt student's for our weekly meeting which resumed just two weeks ago after taking the summer off.  She's putting a binding on her quilt, and I remember the last time she did, I'd found a new tutorial on connecting the final ends that was so easy and wouldn't you know, my old brain has already forgotten how and where it was I found it, and I thought I'd kept the directions, but can't find them.  I think I'll check here on the blog and see if I wrote about before, and/or if I private messaged her on the social network. 

Design Wall Monday

My day is a typical Monday with taking Nick to school, then a stop at Trader Joe's to get some fresh produce, bread and pastas and some housework, meals and whatever pops up.  

The skies are pretty as there are some clouds, and the winds of the last few days have subsided.  Our forecast includes a 30-40% chance of rain for Wed & Thurs...I'll believe it when I see it as it often doesn't materialize.  Lip balm is still my best friend, and an absolute must in these dry conditions.

I worked in nearly 4 1/2 hours of sewing time yesterday and have all 42 of the basic blocks done for Grandma's Scrap Bag.  I haven't yet put the actual design wall up, so again I'm taping these blocks to the wall where the design wall material will be (thankfully no longer in the dining room), so technically they are on the design wall.  Next comes the pieced sashing blocks/strips which I'll do some work on today as I'm planning on shirking some of my household chores.  I'm still feeling really saddened for my friend Panda because of her loss.  We chatted briefly through a chatline, and she's 'ok' and has her family with her and they're taking care of all the arrangements.  I pray for her frequently throughout the day.

Ready to press.

Blocks in process, 2/3rds of a 9-patch block being pressed.

"I'm keeping my eyes on you." says Raven.

A selection of the 42 blocks taped to design wall.

If you're here by way of Judy's Patchwork Times, you don't need the reminder to head over there to see what others are working on, but if not, it's always enjoyable to view the work of others' hands, so go see.  

Let your loved ones know how much you love them, every opportunity you have.

September NewFO

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.  Actually, I was very late in getting my September NewFO started, like so late that I only had four hours to work on it before it was October!  But, start it I did, and I have most of the cutting done.  I'm linking up to Cat Patches where you'll also find what others started in September...some of whom are over-achievers and have already finished theirs! :)

My selection of FQs for the project, with the pattern shown.

My background & borders selection.

Bundled after cutting.   42 strips from that back bundled set have been removed and further cut and re-bundled.

The pattern is Grandma's Scrap Bag by Carrie Nelson for Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  It's a scrappy (duh) quilt made from 1930's repros, which I've been collecting for eons awaiting just the right pattern.  I had purchased this pattern a number of years ago, and decided it would be the perfect one to get started on.  While it's easy enough, it took me a few times of reading parts of the instructions to really comprehend what was being said...maybe I should be worrying about my comprehension skills these days!

My 1930's repro collection is still good-sized, but this does use up 23 FQs.  

Why did I bundle the pieces with paper?  OK, well if you did ask this, here's why.  Since I started this so late...8:00 p.m. on 9/30...I figured it'll be going straight to the UFO shelf for a time as I'll need to get started on an October UFO...and I don't want to wait until the last minute.  This way, the components are cut, counted, bundled and labeled, and the instruction sheet is marked.  The only additional cutting that will be needed prior to sewing is with that smaller bundle of 3" white background squares.  They get cut into half-square triangles and I didn't want that bias edge to be exposed, plus it's a whole lot harder to bundle a triangle than it is a square or rectangle.  The borders will have to be cut too, but that of course will wait upon the center being finished.  I'm anxious to sew again, so it may NOT go right on the shelf...we'll see, and I'll keep you posted.

And now, why did I wait until the last minute?  Between "home" stuff with Marty's 24/7 presence & his surgery last Thursday, chores, financial evaluations, Nick's dental appointment, restarting my meetings with my Padawan (quilt student), a few bouts of depression and self-pity and finally getting back into the quilt room, of which the latter just took more time and effort than I thought it would.  The room is 'workable', and I'm trying to make it as efficient as I can while I'm 'forced' to do without the much needed cabinets and drawers...it's challenging, and I'm already thinking of re-arranging a few of the present things as I think it will be best to have the sewing machine set up on the SewEzi table all the time, so that I can use the desk area both for cutting and for my genealogy paperwork.  I'll keep you posted on that process too.